Tommy Klein Construction

Posted on August 1, 2013

If you’re like most people, you associate the summer months with warm, sandy beaches and relaxing vacation days. But if you’re Tommy Klein, vice-president of HCDE contractor Tommy Klein Construction, the word summer makes you think of round-the-clock labor.

That high level of commitment during Texas’ blistering summer months is what keeps Tommy Klein’s renovation projects running on schedule — and his clients happy.

“I have only good things to say about Tommy Klein Construction,” said Stephanie Laughlin, senior interior designer, Texas Tech University Student Housing. “Their quotes are usually equivalent to the price of the project, and they are always on top of their scheduling.”

Tommy Klein Construction, as its name suggests, is the perfect example of how a dedicated family working together

can (literally) build a multi-million dollar company from the ground up. Tommy got his start digging ditches as a teenager and in 1986, after nine years as construction superintendent for another company, he decided to strike out on his own. Tommy’s wife, Karen Klein, is the company’s business manager and president, and their son Jonathan Klein manages all the job order contracts for Texas Tech. Keeping it in the family has worked very well,

according to Laughlin.

“When you work with some construction companies, they won’t ask you what to do when a problem comes up

— they’ll just make a decision without asking, but Jonathan calls to make sure we’re OK with the plan,” Laughlin said. “They’re really good about communication.”

Finding innovative ways to work around the unforeseen complications of renovating old university buildings is another Tommy Klein trademark.

“The buildings we work on are so old, we don’t always have the most accurate floor plans from the time they were originally built, so many things can come up — structural components not where you thought they were, foundations that may have settled unevenly — things that affect the space we’re trying to renovate,” said Daizy Duede, interior designer, Texas Tech University Housing, adding that Tommy Klein Construction’s problem-solving prowess recently saved the day on a renovation of the University’s Hulen Clement building.

“We were working with another contractor for the windows, but the windows didn’t come in the correct size.

Tommy Klein Construction worked with me to help me find a resolution to create and install the blinds,” Duede said. “This was something that could have been a really difficult problem, but they were very proactive and worked with their subcontractors to find a solution instead of throwing it in my lap and making me deal with it.”

Honesty, communication, anticipating problems, doing the best possible job on time no matter what — these words are Tommy Klein Construction’s brick and mortar. “If we see a problem beforehand, we don’t sit there and wait till the problem hits,” Tommy said. “We try to catch it beforehand. We get it all figured out and go. If we mess

up, we call them.”

Karen pointed out that at the end of the day the business really comes down to making a lasting, positive connection with the client.

“It’s really about relationships,” Karen said. “That’s what we’ve built with them.”

Tommy Klein Construction is one of 27 competitively awarded contract holders for job order contracting and is a Texas HUB certified vendor. For more information, contact Karen at (806) 438-3811.